Fifteen days ago, August 7th.
As the autumn examination was approaching, the chief minister of the cabinet, Li Banghua, stayed in Yangzhou for only one day before taking a boat to Yingtian Prefecture.
Before leaving, Li Banghua met with the new Yangzhou prefect Zhang Huangyan.
When Li Zicheng attacked Fengyang, Zhang Huangyan made great contributions in raising funds and was appointed as the successor to the post of Ren Minyu, the former prefect.
Strictly speaking, Zhang Huangyan did not make any contribution.
However, with the recommendation of Nanjing court officials, he was pushed to the position of prefect of Yangzhou.
Shi Kefa tried to stop it but failed and could only accept this fact.
The Nanjing court officials recommended Zhang Huangyan in order to harm him, not to help him.
The imperial court is now investigating tax arrears. There are many people in Yangzhou Prefecture, Southern Zhili who evade taxes, and this job is the most difficult.
They were eager for Zhang Huangyan to take over this hot potato.
"My Lord, are you looking for me?" Zhang Huangyan bowed deeply to Li Banghua after entering the cabin.
"Sit down!" Li Banghua pointed to the stool next to the table.
"In front of seniors, juniors just need to stand." Zhang Huangyan bowed deeply.
Li Banghua stared at Zhang Huangyan's face for a while, then laughed: "As expected, he is the person chosen by His Majesty. Although he is young, he speaks neither servilely nor arrogantly, and is modest and prudent."
"Talent, talent."
Zhang Huangyan was shocked: "What you mean is... Your Majesty knows me?"
You can’t blame Zhang Huangyan for being shocked.
It is like a young new employee suddenly learns from the company's general manager that the chairman not only knows his name but also pays close attention to him.
Excitement is inevitable.
"More than that, His Majesty specifically asked me to take care of you, a young man, more before I left." Li Banghua said with a smile.
"Then...thank you for your help, Your Excellency!" Zhang Huangyan bowed deeply to Li Banghua again.
"No need to be so polite. Do you know why I want to ask you to come here?" Li Banghua asked.
"I don't know."
"Don't do anything lately."
"What?" Zhang Huangyan was stunned.
He stared at Li Banghua's face, trying to find the flaw in his expression.
An old fox of Li Banghua's level would certainly not give him a chance, so Zhang Huangyan gained nothing.
Zhang Huangyan had no choice but to ask, "Your Excellency came to the south this time to provide disaster relief and collect tax arrears, but you told me not to do anything. I don't understand why you told me to disobey your order."
He was afraid that Li Banghua would cheat him.
The imperial court ordered local officials to investigate tax arrears, but Li Banghua told him not to do anything.
He couldn't understand why such words went against the imperial will.
"Because...Yangzhou cannot be in chaos." Li Banghua stroked the beard on his chin, his expression as calm as water.
"Chaotic?" Zhang Huangyan was even more confused. "How can it be chaotic?"
"Farmers don't farm, cooks don't cook salt, soldiers don't guard the city, merchants don't transport goods, trackers don't pull the boats, students don't study for exams, officials don't work..." Li Banghua squinted and looked outside the cabin.
"This... won't the world be in chaos?" Zhang Huangyan was shocked beyond words.
"Let there be chaos. The ills of the Ming Dynasty cannot be cured by a single strong medicine. The reason why I said that Yangzhou cannot be in chaos is because Yangzhou is the intersection of the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal. Once there is chaos here, the grain transport will be affected. Once the grain transport is disrupted, the food and fodder of the northern border troops will be in trouble."
"You understand what I mean, right?"
Zhang Huangyan suddenly realized: "I understand, thank you for your guidance, old man."
"Don't worry, I won't harm you." Li Banghua took out a secret letter from his arms and handed it to Zhang Huangyan. "This is the official document that the court will not collect the overdue taxes from Yangzhou Prefecture for the time being. Keep it."
Zhang Huangyan took the document respectfully, opened the envelope carefully, and read it carefully.
After confirming that the content was correct, Zhang Huangyan finally felt relieved.
These days you have to leave traces in everything you do, otherwise you won’t be able to explain yourself when the time comes.
After explaining everything to Zhang Huangyan, Li Banghua left Yangzhou by boat.
The imperial envoy's fleet first reached the Yangtze River along the canal, and then went upstream straight to Nanjing.
They had not gone two miles when hundreds of warships of various sizes appeared in front of the fleet.
The warships were flying the national flag of the Ming Dynasty and the flag of the Caojiang Navy.
It was Liu Kongzhao, the admiral of the Jiangnan Navy.
When the Caojiang Navy saw Li Banghua's imperial envoy team arrive, they immediately moved to the north and south sides to make way for the waterway in the middle.
Immediately afterwards, the sound of gongs and drums was heard from the warships on both sides.
The dong dong and clang clang sounds instantly made the entire river surface lively.
Li Banghua's face turned cold when he saw this: "Quick, stop the boats. Then signal the other side with flags and ask them to move all the warships to the south side of the Yangtze River, and let the imperial envoy's fleet pass from the north side of the Yangtze River."
"Why is this happening, Lord? The east wind is blowing strongly now, which is a good time for sailing. If we miss this gust of wind, it will take us half a day longer to reach Nanjing," said Zhang Boxing, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, who was on the same ship.
"It's against etiquette! Although we are imperial envoys, there is a limit on the number of soldiers we can escort. If we add the people sent by Liu Kongzhao, we will be outnumbered."
"If the ship does not stop, the prince will see the impeachment petition against me before he sees me."
Zhang Boxing was stunned at first, then hurriedly ordered the boatman to stop the boat.
After the imperial fleet stopped, Liu Kongzhao's river navy did not stop playing music, but continued sailing while beating gongs and drums.
A quarter of an hour later, hundreds of warships sailed down the Yangtze River and disappeared into the gray fog in the distance.
After the warships had gone far away, Zhang Boxing said angrily: "Liu Kongzhao is the admiral of the Caojiang Navy. He knew it was against etiquette but still sent troops to escort them. We must impeach him when we arrive in Nanjing."
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